A Date with Darkiplier
by Bewitching Deductions
Summary: What began as a date with the famous youtuber, Markiplier, soon turns sinister as a new character enters the scene, and he wants you all to himself. Darkiplier. Dark seeps into your mind and forces you to kill Mark, and you are left in the eternal darkness of your own guilt with Dark as your constant tormentor. Can you escape your eternal hell? WARNING: Rated M for dark themes.


_No…. no, no, NO!_

You rock back in forth, disturbed, confused…

 _Why? What's happened? ...It all went so quickly..._

You had walked into the reserved room of a restaurant in L.A. He was sitting there, looking almost nervous. You remember smiling to yourself when he looked up, pleased to see you; excited even. You blushed and your lips formed a shy grin as you were escorted to your seat.

 _By who? Why can't I remember? Their faces… they were so familiar…_

He spoke of remembering you from somewhere. Well, of course you remembered him. He was Mark - Mark Fischbach, the famous youtuber, the let's player, the "King of the Squirrels" as many chose to call him. Most importantly, though, he was your friend. No, he'd never known you, how could he? One fan in 14,000,000. A number on a screen. Yet, he meant so much to you. You can't really remember when you first visited his channel, but you can feel the warmth in your soul from every laugh since. He made you feel like you knew him. Made you feel like you had a best friend, though you'd never interacted.

He was everything in person that he was in his videos: goofy yet charming, abrasive yet smooth, witty yet hilariously slow. Your cheeks had hurt from all the smiling. He's taller than he ever lets on, and you can tell that even with him sitting down. He's just as handsome in person as in his videos, although you'd kind of hoped that had been camera magic for your own ego's sake, and his being so properly dressed in a suit and tie didn't help. He didn't seem to notice, though, and you knew, somehow, that though he put on a show with his own self-esteem for the world, he was humble at his core.

He beamed at you, his eyes twinkling as he mentioned "destiny" and "getting to know you". The courses seem to almost literally fly by when it seemed to end too soon.

Rather abruptly even…

A man entered your frame of view, and aggressively lumbered his way to Mark's side. As he began to throw something down on the table, your brain shot out information as you realized from the man's clothing that he must be the cook before the bill holder hits the table with an incredibly audible _smack!_ The next thing you new, he was demanding payment. You looked to Mark in clear shock, hoping he wasn't forgetful this time, as you knew he could be. Mark felt around his coat panickedly, but to no avail and pleaded with you for help through his eyes and shamed words as the chef grabbed Mark's dinner knife and held it up to you both, threatening.

 _Where was the staff? Why did no one come to help?_

You hesitated only a moment from shock but produced your own card from your person, handing it over to the chef who seemed to calm almost instantaneously. Mark shook his hand nervously, and received an overly strong pat on the back as you both got up to leave. Your date seemed to recover quickly as he rambled on about this great play that he was taking you too, and you shook your head, confused but proud at his rebound from before. He had so much planned, for you both, and it was so kind. It wasn't until you'd already reached the theatre that you realized you'd left your card with the cook.

Guess Mark isn't the only forgetful one.

You arrived at the theater and were immediately escorted from the vehicle by two ushers, and Mark lead you inside, telling you how happy he was that you were both out together and how great you looked.

 _Why can't I remember the ushers?_

You were swooning, of course, and he grabbed you both some popcorn, playfully giving you some. That's when he saw the posters. There was a different show playing as well as the original that he'd intended us to see. It was a horror play called "Dark Mark". He seemed curious, and he decided to leave the decision up to you. The romance? Or the Horror?

You picked the Horror.

 _NO. NOT THAT ONE. Why did I have to choose that one?! PLEASE CHANGE IT. PLEASE._

That was when the mood of the evening shifted drastically. You felt it close in around you as you told Mark your choice. He seemed pleased to see something new, but you couldn't shake the cold feeling trickling down your spine. Maybe it was the usher's final glare as he wished you both a dark "Good luck," but you felt the foreboding that you'd already stepped into a realm you didn't want to be in.

You managed to put on a strong face and even convinced yourself a little that you were imagining things. Mark told you how happy he was that you asked him out… Or did he ask you out? Oh well, it didn't matter. You were out and you were both happy. He sat down beside you and smiled so warmly that you felt your heart nearly burst. You never wanted this night to end.

 _ **SELFISH.**_

He offered you popcorn, and just as you began to gesture that you didn't want any, he looks to the stage.

"Oh, it's starting!"

You whipped your head around to the stage… but you didn't see anything. Something started alright. You whirled your head back around to give Mark a questioning look, only to find he'd vanished.

The cold, sickening feeling came back with a vengeance.

Terror.

You look back at the stage and reality fringes like an old VHS tape. In the brief crackle, a distorted face was inches from your own, and you hear a drawn in breath that filled your ears as you prayed it was your own. As quickly as it had appeared it vanished, and you held onto your seat like a vice, struggling to maintain a sense of what was real, a grasp on your mental state. You seemed to be moving backwards or the world was moving away from you, and the stage became fuzzy. Mark. He was appearing and reappearing in different places, never the same way twice. You wanted to call out to him but the sheer terror kept you silent. Warning bells were going off in what was left of your thoughts: that's not Mark.

You pulled farther and farther away from the stage, and more of them started to come into existence, filling your sight with hundreds of theatres until everything went black.

And there _he_ was.

He was so close to you, like he was before in the initial glitches, but he wasn't vanishing this time. It was Mark… yet not. He stood so cold, eerily still with his head so low that he might have been looking down if not for the eye-locking stare he gave. His head turned at an impossible slowness, cocking into a more menacing angle as he said those words: " _ **DID YOU MISS ME?**_ "

If you could have reeled back, turned and ran as fast as you could, even further into the darkness, you would have. Yet there you stood, paralyzed, but whether it was at the hands of this sinister figure or the fear itself, you weren't sure. He seemed to be layered into different planes of existence, his form echoing in black and white and yet shadowed in three different undefinable shades. He was as unstable in reality as he was in his mind, which frightened you all the more. You listened to his words as each hit you like a knife sliced into you over and over again.

" _ **I've missed you... very much.**_ " His whole being was exemplified behind him like a shadow holding his reflection. It bent your mind as it fought against the contortion it was facing. He had moved backward somewhat. Or appeared to have. You didn't know anymore. " _ **I've been waiting a long time to see you again.**_ " He put his hands behind his back, as though trying to appear conversational or casual in this menacing setting. "Again"? You racked your brain for the meaning. You knew this figure. Had seen it in the shadows of Mark's videos, had heard it's whispers over the internet. You had followed its voice, learning a name that you wished you hadn't.

Darkiplier.

He'd never truly manifested himself before. Not for so long. He was only a rumor that had found it's way into the community's minds, and played tricks on those who sought him out. This was not just a "trick".

" _ **I've been pushed aside. Replaced.**_ **Mocked.** " He sneered the last word like it was poison on his tongue, his impossibly deep voice reverberating throughout the vast darkness. It closed in around you like a snake, coiling tighter until you couldn't breathe. You couldn't remember how. " _ **And then he had the gall to not invite me to his little adventure with you.**_ " Mark. Where was Mark? What happened to him? " _ **No more.**_ _**Never again.**_ " His voice became more demonic, leaving the tones of even Mark's capabilities, as he distorted himself and the lines that formed his figure were blurred with red and blue. " _ **IT'S MY TURN NOW.**_ "

It was as though he regained some control as the distortion faded but the voice stayed demonized. He continued, his movements more sporadic, colors seeming to run from him as his anger grew more tangible. He roared, " _ **I've been waiting patiently! He promised he would let me in again!**_ " The colors returned to his echo-y shadows and the demonic tones had mostly gone. " _ **I'm tired of giving people a choice.**_ " He corrected his tie and straightened his attire to collect himself. He sighed. " _ **But I suppose I can give you one last option,**_ " he bit out. " _ **Take your pick! Anything of four different choices. More than he had ever given you. And let's see how far down this rabbit hole really goes.**_ " Out of the blackness, you could see four images appear. " _ **So take your pick. Show me what you've got.**_ " He ticked his tongue as a thought floated into his mind. " _ **And maybe… we'll have a good date after all.**_ " He straightened up from the almost predatory stance he had taken, rolling his head and smirking wickedly. You didn't know how, but you knew he could sense your fear- taste it, smell it, feel it, hear it… and most certainly see it.

Three you recognized to be the very videos you recalled first seeing the dark tinges of this monster. It was the fourth that caught your attention. You couldn't make it out, but a word pricked into your mind when you saw it. "Freedom" it seemed to say. Mark was there. Mark was in there somewhere.

 _No, don't. Stay in the darkness. Don't choose that. Please… don't._

You don't really think you had a choice at all. No sooner had you thought it had you felt everything shift around you. You were moving through space, though nothing visibly seemed to change around you. Darkiplier still stood before you, hands folded in front of him as though he had been patiently waiting. " _ **Good choice.**_ " With those words, you felt your hope vanish. " _ **But… why do we need to choose in life?**_ " Suddenly you both were sitting at a table, still surrounded by the black. It mocked the dinner that Mark had with you just hours before. Good god, had it really been so soon? How much time had passed while you were trapped in the blackness? It had felt like an eternity. " _ **If dinner is what you want, than I can provide. And I can take you wherever you'd like to go.**_ " Was he saying he wanted to provide for you? What does that mean? Why is there… kindness there? A selfishly tinged kindness… " _ **I can especially take you to the places that you**_ **don't** _**want to go.**_ " Your blood rushed in your ears as anxiety pounded through every inch of your being. He seemed to notice, and smiled, an expression that seemed so wrong on his face, as though the face that resembled Mark's was never meant to smile. " _ **It's exciting. Knowing there are endless possibilities waiting for you.**_ " His eyes filled with a want unlike anything a human should be capable. A dark sinister lust for _pain_ and yet for _nearness_. You felt the desperate need to cry as the overwhelming terror racked your soul, but the tears would not fall and the sobs were unsounded. Reality glitched again and he was roaring once more as he came unhinged again, his very fabrication lagging in and out of this dark realm, glitching. " _ **I CAN GIVE YOU ANYTHING!**_ "

He snapped back into place as his eyes bore into yours, burrowing into your soul, the colors breaking free once more around him. " _ **I've been waiting a long time to get some… personal time between us.**_ " He was too close again, glitching wildly and screaming venomously, " _ **THERE IS NOTHING YOU OR**_ **HE** _**CAN DO TO STOP ME!**_ " He was back again in the chair where he was before, grinning, and you felt like you could pass out from the rapid changes. " _ **So… now that we're here together… we can**_ **really** _**get to know each other.**_ " A shape of him sat scream within him from another dimension that you could see, twisting awfully and screeching out an awful howl of agony, and gone in an instant. He seemed to reach for you slightly. " _ **You just need to let me in.**_ " There was a plea in his voice… a voice that purposefully drifted closer to Mark's, filled with sadness. Wanting to be free of his torment. That's where he caught your weakness. You had pitied him and wanted to help him, and you felt his darkness _get inside_ you _._ His sinister smile returned. " _ **It's as simple as that.**_ "

No longer were you both surrounded by darkness. Reality crept back in, yet still discolored in Dark's blacks and grays. " _ **You're never, ever going to escape. Not now-**_ " He was cut off as another figure tackled him, forcing you and he fully into the world, the fully colored dimension you knew. " _ **What the hell?**_ " Dark roared. You were in a vacant lot, and from what you could tell, behind the theater you were in before. You could see them both struggling for dominance in the fight now, and you could see him. Mark! He was okay! You wanted to help him, but you were still rooted in place by Dark's power, but then you realized something. You couldn't tell which one was Mark anymore. Both were dressed in the suit from the date, and Dark no longer had the dark encircled eyes. They're identical, and you wouldn't know who was who if you had to.

And you had to.

That's when one of the Mark's pulled a gun and tried to force it into the other's torso, but the other managed to knock it to the ground at your feet. Your petrification was released and you snatched the gun from the ground, both Marks backing away from both you and each other.

That's when they started shouting at you, telling you to shoot the other. They both sounded like Mark. You _had_ to choose. You _had_ to make this choice.

 _DON'T!_

The gun fired and echoes into the distance. The Mark on the left's eye are wide with shock and hurt as he crumpled into death, lifeless. You lower the gun, crying as you look at him. Before you can think too clearly on what's been done, the Mark on the right walks to you, looking disheveled but relieved. "You made the right call," he says shakily as he approaches. You start trembling as the sobs escape you. "It's okay. It's okay." He embraces you and lets you cry as all of the previous events release themselves in your weeping.

He had brought you to an ice cream shop, hoping to salvage the date, you suppose as he gets you a bowl of chocolate and talks to you. He continued to apologize for everything, knowing that what has happened must have been earth-shattering for you. You tried to smile and started to feel a little better as you looked into his eyes. He sat you down at a nearby table. "Just relax. We'll enjoy some nice dairy-based treats and uh… get to know each other. Really. Personally." You smile at each other briefly before he gestures to your bowl, "Go ahead." You look down to your ice cream, but honestly, you don't think you can stomach it. Just as you decide to tell him, the glitch happens.

No... No, no, no! You feel the cold gripping you as the distorted grays and blacks return. You look up to meet Dark's iced stare. " _ **Oops. Looks like you made the wrong choice.**_ " His head snaps into impossible angles, and glitches back into place. " _ **But now**_ **we're** _**going to be together…**_ " he leaned in slightly and whispered the last word like a promise, " _ **forever.**_ " His grin is all you saw as everything went black again and you fall back into that terrible realm of eternal night.

 _To be continued..._


End file.
